country's famous sieben-minuten beer. "When this
traditional draught is tapped, bar staff let the beer
stand until the head collapses, then add a little more
beer with foam, and repeat this several times," says
Hans Herrmann, a German by birth, who now works as
Heineken's Technical Director Business Development
Africa and Middle East. "However, most outlets are
moving away from this very traditional method of
tapping a brew."
In some parts of the world, beer drinkers often do
not expect a foam head at all. "A thick foam head
is not a must in Thailand," says Jeroen Stoffels,
Technical Controller at Thai Asia Pacific Brewery.
"Thai people drink their beer with ice, which prevents
the development of a head. Sometimes they plant
bottles in a layer of ice to cool it, but they often add
ice directly to the beer." The major reason for this
preference is simply practicality, he adds. "In Thailand,
many beer outlets don't have cooling. We notice that
ice isn't added to beer in more modern outlets."
A great colour
A common misperception about beer is that the darker
the brew, the stronger it is. Charlie Papazian, chairman
of the American-based Brewer's Association (BA):
"People in the US tend to assume that a lighter colour
will mean a lighter taste. But the most popular dark
beer in the world, stout, is in fact quite low in alcohol
content."
What we enjoy as beer today is very different from
